Froch confident that he will be able to stop Groves.
Ahead of the highly-anticipated rematch between Carl Froch and George Groves, we analyse both sides of the contest and discuss the keys to victory.
From a technical angle, Groves is undoubtedly the better fighter and showed that in the opening rounds of the first bout with his footwork, speed and movement.
Having dropped Froch in the opening round, he was able to settle into his rhythm, throw the jab and command the centre of the ring and move to within range of letting his big right hand come over the top and land on his opponent.
However, as pointed out by the defending WBA and IBF champion, the end of the sixth round was a significant turning point in the fight as Groves not only began to show signs of fatigue but was also becoming greedy and engaged in too much of a dogfight.
Had he been more clever and been able to fall back on experience in that situation, he would have arguably held himself together, reserved his punches and made the most of his early advantage and gone on to win on points despite the scorecards suggesting it was a closer fight than many thought.
Nevertheless, Froch by all accounts is more determined, focused and desperate in many ways to defend his legacy and produce a conclusive finish in order to wipe out the controversy from the first fight.
In order to do that he will need to stamp his authority early and take the centre of the ring, be more switched on defensively but get inside in order to land his shots on Groves.
Admittedly that will probably leave him open for the faster Groves to exploit his weaknesses, but that added pressure and ability to walk his opponent down without the ill-effects of an early knockdown, could well be the difference.
While the expectation for some experts is that both men will likely want to take the centre which will ultimately result in a brutal tear-up from the first bell, if Froch comes out of that in relatively good shape then he will know that he is capable of taking Groves the distance if necessary and claiming a late stoppage in the final few rounds where he tends to come on strong.
For all Groves’ claims of being a 12-round fighter, he has never been there at a championship pace, and if he wasn’t able to finish Froch off at his worst, then it will be a much more difficult task if Froch brings his top form on Saturday night.
Prediction: Froch to win between rounds 10-12.
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